Swan takes a swipe at miners – but misses

As King Louis IV’s finance minister, Jean-Baptiste Colbert, noted, the art of taxation lies in plucking the goose so as to get the most feathers with the least hissing.

There was hissing-a-plenty from the mining industry when, after a long battle that cost the former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd his job and caused the Labor Government’s popularity to plunge, Australia introduced a 30 per cent Minerals Resource Rent Tax in July.

Unfortunately for Australia’s Treasurer, Wayne Swan, he does not, so far, have many feathers to show for his efforts. The Australian revealed yesterday that none of the country’s biggest three miners — BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Xstrata — had any liabilities during the first three months of the tax’s life and that Canberra had received…